World Upside Down
by Othiara
Summary: This follows potential Lilia Welke (OC) through the latter half of the seventh season.
1. Chapter 1

We got the call a week ago. It was Sunday at 9 in the morning. Margie was doing laundry, so she asked if I would get it. I said yes. Of course I would.

Margie was my mom. My real mom, for a while. She isn't my birth mom - she left for Paris so long ago I can't even remember her. She never told anyone who my dad was.

I was no one special. Just a kid. I hadn't ever really had friends before. Now I'd been living with Margie for almost a year. I had friends. I was pretty normal.

That call said I wasn't. It said I was a potential slayer. That if the current slayer died that i might get her powers. I didn't really get it. I wasn't sure if they were joking or not. I asked if the current slayer had died and they were calling to congratulate me. They said no. They said an ancient evil was plotting to kill all the potentials. I hung up on them. Obviously they were nutcases who had just somehow managed to get a hold of Margie's phone number. When she came down I just told her that it was a prank caller. She nodded and went back to work.

Now I'm on a bus. I don't know anybody here, nor would I want to. Everything is quiet except for the engine. I'm grateful for the inaction. After the last week, what I really need is some rest, but I don't think the bus is very sanitary and I don't feel nearly at home enough to go to sleep.

I've never heard of the place I'm going. Sunnydale. The name doesn't match my mood; it's far too bright and optimistic. Maybe I out to have gotten off in L.A. I've never been there before. But I wouldn't have. I know that. Right now protection sounds good, even if it's from fictional characters and given by nutcases. And who knows, maybe what's been following me _is_ ubervamps. Or maybe it's wild dogs. But that doesn't make sense to me either. I suppose I'll sort it out later.

The bus just arrived. There's a girl there. She is looking for someone. She's saying a name...Lilia Welke. Me. I wave and walk over to her. She said her name was Molly. The first thing I notice is that she has a British accent. The second is her age. She isn't much older than me. She seems nice enough so I decide to join the conversation she is trying to have.

"So what do you do around here? Is there a school that we go to? How do we fend off the ubervamp things?" I'm filled with questions, but I decide to start with these. Most of these questions are what this means for me. Is this just another home, another family? More friends I have to make? Or is it different? Something that will change my life forever?

"Well, mostly we train. There are other girls around to talk to. There's a school in the area but we don't go to it. Ubervamps are really hard to kill, even Buffy can hardly do it." She talks quickly, like she's nervous and I realize she doesn't know the real answers to my questions any better than I do. "Buffy's the current slayer, you know, the one with the super strength. She also does most of the training," she added. I was kind of disappointed with her lack of answers, especially to my last question. I don't know. That's what she meant. They didn't know any better than I did what to do or the training was just doing nothing to help Molly's self-confidence. But on the outside I tried to focus on the more trivial question.

"No school? Isn't that against the law? Especially if one's available."

"I don't know. I suppose we're the exception. Special, you know." I wondered if that answer satisfied her. Did special mean we were above the law? I was almost sure she knew about the laws against truancy. But I decided to drop the subject. Of course, that left us nothing to talk about as we walked down the street to where she had parked. I wondered if she was driving, though that question was quickly answered.

Kennedy was driving. She was another potential. She looked older than us, maybe twenty. The girls seemed okay with leaving me out of the conversation now. It was okay. I liked that better. Now I could hear what was really going on. Apparently it was getting very crowded in there. Too many girls they needed to protect. Like me. What could you do about that, though? You can't abandon them, just leave them to die. All you could do was try to kill the ubervamps, though that was harder than it sounded. Their general, Buffy, the current slayer, wasn't doing as good a job as they thought she could. Molly seemed more sympathetic about that than Kennedy.

We got to their house. It didn't make me think they were housing an army. It looked more the right size for a family of 3 or 4. They were probably right about it being crowded. It wasn't a very long ride because it was a small town. The address was 1630 Revello Drive. I would try to remember that. We went inside.

"Hey Kennedy." A redheaded woman approached her. I wasn't sure if that was Buffy, though I doubted it was.

"That's Willow. She and Kennedy are dating." Molly filled in those details to me in a whisper. "They'll probably be training outside now," she said while moving toward the door, "care to join me?"

"Sure, I'll go check it out." Really, I would've rather done almost anything else instead of participating in violence training.

We went outside. It looked like they were trying out some new moves. They weren't trying them on each other or any other foe. I thought it looked more like they were learning some particularly violent-looking dance moves than learn to fight. They didn't look like they could protect me. They hardly looked like they could protect themselves. Molly joined the group. A man behind me cleared his throat. I turned around. He looked older than anyone else I had seen in the house. He wore glasses. When he began to speak, the first thing I noticed was that he was British like Molly. They obviously weren't related, though, they looked nothing like each other.

"You'd probably be the new one. Lilia. I'm Giles. I hope you don't hate it here too much and understand it's for your own protection. I could show you to where you'll be sleeping; you don't have to begin training until tomorrow." Sleep sounded nice even though it was only mid afternoon It had been a long week. But I addressed his earlier statements first.

"Yes, that's me. Nice to meet you." I paused for a moment before my next question.

"How will these girls protect me? Strength in numbers? Sleep does sound nice, thank you. He paused a moment before answering. It looked like he was studying me.

"Yes, strength in numbers is part of it I suppose. And, with training,you all will become a little better than before. Alright, I'll show you the way." He gestured for me to go inside. I followed him into the living room.

"What, will I be sleeping on the couch?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No, you'll be sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor with most of the other girls. I'm afraid the couch has already been claimed." I looked around. This wasn't exactly a five-star hotel and I felt just as vulnerable here as at Margie's. Hardly any of those girls had probably even seen a ubervamp. It felt more like we were here for their slaughtering convenience than our safety. But where else could I go? This would do, at least for the night.

"So where's the sleeping bag? I know it's early but I've had a long trip."

"Right in this closet. Um, here, I don't think this one's in use." He handed me a sleeping bag just like all the others. How could he tell? But I took it gratefully.

As I lay on the ground, I thought over the past week. it was probably the worst week of my life. No normal home for me. No normal life.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up. I looked around. It seemed I hadn't noticed as a lot of other girls joined me on the floor. I wandered into the kitchen. The clock on the stove said 4:07 a.m. I had slept for almost 12 hours. I knew before I even tried that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. I realized I was just wearing my normal street clothes and my hair was very messy. I wished I'd had time to pack a bag. I didn't feel like waking someone up at 4 in the morning and asking to borrow their comb and clothes would make the best first impression.

I looked around for something to read or do. The bookshelves were full of books, of course, but it was very dark and turning on a light would be rude to those who were still sleeping. I tried to think of what Margie would've had me do.

"You couldn't sleep either?" I turned around. There was a man standing behind me, grabbing some snacks. Eating. There was a form of entertainment.

"I'm Andrew," he continued, "Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before."

"I'm Lilia. Hi."

"Nice to meet you. Yeah, I thought I heard a Lilia was coming. You hear a lot of names thrown around like that, though. New girls come in all the time." I wondered how planned in advance this whole thing had been. I knew they had called me a week ago, but now I was wondering how long they had known about me before then, if at all.

"How long have you guys known I was coming?" The question must have come out sounding more accusatory than I had intended, because he answered in a rush.

"Oh, not all that long. I think they just found out about you a little over a week ago." I didn't know how long I thought they had known. Or why it mattered. But something in me felt relieved all the same.

"Isn't it against the law?" I knew it was a sudden change of topic and he probably would just agree with Molly and the others anyway, but I had to know.

"Isn't what against the law?" he asked, as I realized I had probably used too many pronouns.

"All this. No school. Stealing a bunch of girls away from their homes so they can train to fight some ancient evil. Packing them all into one room at night. In one house. Do you guys think you're above the law or did you somehow manage to get permission for all that?" That part definitely sounded accusatory. I flushed and focused very hard on pouring some cereal into a bowl.

"I don't know. I suppose it would be. You should really ask questions like that to Buffy. She's our leader here. She would give you a speech, but she'd probably know how to answer better than me." I resolved to do just that. I hoped that she wouldn't avoid my questions like everyone else was. I decided to drop the slayer talk and find out what I could about him.

"So why did you come here? It doesn't seem like the ideal vacation spot. I'm also pretty sure that slayers and potentials can only be girls, so that's not it."

"I'm their hostage, though I would prefer being known as a guestage. You see, I have a dark past. Last year, I went evil, assisted by my two friends. One of them went down a path that he couldn't return from; he shot Willow's girlfriend and then she flayed him. Me and Jonathan, that's the other friend, went down to Mexico. The First convinced me to come back and drain Jonathan's blood on the seal, instead of showing it to Buffy and her friends like he thought. I really regret it now, though. He was my only friend. Willow found me at the butcher's buying blood and they brought me here and tied me up, and, well, I've been here since." This had shocked me. He was a murderer? So was Willow? This wasn't making sense to me. Not only did they commit all the crimes I had already mentioned to him, but now I knew they were also housing not one murderer, but two? Maybe more. I needed to get out of here. Get away from him.

"I should really go." I wasn't sure if he could tell I was trying to get away from him, and I hurried out of the kitchen before he could reply or stop me. I couldn't stay inside. I felt suffocated. Outside it was dark. I sat in the grass. They would probably have cautioned about going out here at night. The vampires could get me before I even began my training. I think I believed them, on that stuff anyways.

The cold, crisp night air was bringing me to my senses. I could feel my head beginning to clear as well. It wasn't just the girls they were breaking the law with. They were also housing two felons, maybe more. Murderers. The police probably never even heard about Andrew's two friends. Why would you kill your only friend? It's such a horrible thing to do, and it's so hard to make new ones. And just about the worst thing you could be was lonely.

Maybe I would leave. I could get that ticket to L.A. I didn't want to die, but that wasn't the choice. It was whether I wanted to die here with a bunch of other girls like me, or in L.A. Maybe I wanted to go to L.A. I looked at the car that Kennedy had driven. I couldn't drive and I didn't have the keys. Walking was out of the question. Sunnydale might not have been the biggest town, but the bus station was a good 5 miles, maybe more. Besides, I was the new one here. They would notice I was missing in a matter of hours. They would find me. Take me back. The feeling of enclosure was overwhelming me again.

I heard a rustle in the bushes. Something jumped out at me. A ubervamp! I barely made it into the house without it ripping me to shreds. It did manage a deep cut in my shoulder, however.

I staggered into the house, clutching my bleeding shoulder. Though I knew I had to invite the vampires in, I slammed the door as a precaution. I must have slammed it louder than I thought, because Andrew came rushing over. The lighter sleepers among the potentials maneuvered their ways over as well. I suddenly felt very foolish. Why would I have gone outside at night? That was their feeding time, no matter whether you were in Sunnydale or another city. One or two of the girls helped me to the bathroom and dressed my wound.

"Why were you out there? You know the ubervamps are always around at night!" The girl's expression and words joined exasperation and sympathy.

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking," I mumbled. I felt even more foolish now that she had pointed it out.

"Evidently not," her expression softened, "Don't worry. you'll get the hang of it here. We all made mistakes like that. It just takes a little time. I wouldn't recommend letting things like this happen very often, though, or you won't have very much time." Her expression was even more sympathetic now, as though she knew this from experience and loss. I would bet money that she did.

"Of course; I think I've learned my lesson," I reassured her. They had finished bandaging me now and I wandered out into the hall. I had a clear view of the stairs as a small blonde woman marched down. She looked confused, but I could see her superiority over the others. Their leader. Buffy.

"What's going on? Why is everybody up? I heard a bang. Who slammed the door?" Buffy seemed almost as full of accusatory questions as I was. I raised my hand cautiously to answer her last one.

"That would be me. Sorry if I woke you. I didn't mean to." Now that her eyes were on me I felt compelled to look down or in the other direction. Her eyes traveled to the bandage on my shoulder.

"You're hurt," she stated quite plainly as it registered in her mind. Then she returned bombarding accusatory questions. "Why were you outside? Don't you know that there are lots of vampires out there, not to mention the über ones? Did one of them cause that?" I nodded to her last question, this time not resisting the impulse to stare at my feet.

"How can you not know that? Stay inside at night. It's that simple. Now, please, I hardly get enough sleep as it is. Let me rest." She stomped up the steps. I didn't look up until she had gone. Sure, what I had done was pretty stupid. I accepted that. But there was no need for her to humiliate me like that in front of everyone! I went back over to my sleeping bag. If I couldn't sleep, then I would lay here till morning. Try not to cause any trouble. I sighed, turning on to my stomach and pressing the side of my head into the pillow. I would sort this all out in the morning. I would go to training. Do what they wanted me to do. Be a good girl.

I hated it here. I had never hated it this much in any of my other homes.


	3. Chapter 3

I pretended I was sleeping when someone came to wake me. When I thought she had shaken long enough to do so, I pretended that I was waking up from a good night's sleep. The truth was, I hadn't been able to fall back asleep. My shoulder had made sleeping in my normal position awkward and my prediction from the previous night had been correct. She went along with it, telling me I'd better get ready fast if I was going to make it to training on time. Training. The thing we did instead of getting an education. The thing of questionable legality. The thing I had to get ready for quickly because I only had 15 minutes. Then came the realization that, without a bag, I didn't have clothes, a comb, deodorant, or a toothbrush. She let me borrow a pair of clothes and a comb for the day. I would worry about the rest later. I suspected I would have to buy new things, though I hesitated to ask Buffy after last night. There were some things you just couldn't borrow from other girls, and toothbrush falls into that category.

I finished showering as quickly as possible and came outside almost directly after. I got there about 30 seconds before the session was going to start and quickly got into an empty place.

Now that I was standing in place, I had to figure out what to do. I didn't particularly want to learn how to do what I had seen them doing the day before, and I quickly found that I was no good at it. I had always been clumsy, so this came as no surprise to me. Still, I was a little surprised that I was the worst one there, though some girls almost measured up. I was the newest one and, therefore the worst, but there were some others who looked like they didn't know what they were doing yet.

After a clumsy attempt at physical training and lunch at noon, afternoon training was more mental. Anya would teach us about the threat and all that. The others told me that Anya often got off-topic and began discussing her sex life, but when she didn't do that, sometimes it was a little interesting. Others argued and said that it was much more interesting when she did and then everyone started laughing. I joined in so that it wouldn't feel awkward.

After the session, I concluded that those statements were true. I also hoped that every day wouldn't be the same as this one, because it wouldn't give me much to look forward to.

Someone must have mentioned my lack of clothes and personal hygiene items to someone, because I got a couple basic outfits, a comb, a toothbrush, and deodorant, which definitely improved my situation and gave me one less thing to worry about. That was the good news. The bad news was that the next day Buffy taught us. The lesson would be at night, in the cemetery. Spike would come with us. I had to ask who Spike was because I had no idea. The other girls told me that he was a vampire with a soul, a chip, and a trigger. I wasn't sure what that last part meant, but it surprised me that they would house and let us train with a vampire. Weren't we here to fight against vampires? There was a lot of tension between him and Buffy, and the girls thought the two of them had a history.

At least now I had a free morning. There was really nothing else to do, so I just wandered over to the shelf and found a book to read. I picked something up, some fictional story without a memorable title. I had read for about 15 minutes when Amanda approached me.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast? We've got cereal and fruit." She looked at me expectantly for an answer. I shrugged.

"I don't usually eat breakfast. I just don't get all that hungry in the early morning. I'm fine on two meals a day." I knew her offer was a social offer, not a food offer. I just didn't feel like talking to people right then. I hoped I didn't' offend her by rejecting her offer. I also hoped this wasn't the kind of place where they forced food on me and said I had to eat it. I had been to those sorts of places before and didn't like them. She nodded and left for the kitchen again. I happily sank back into the world of my book. I read for an hour or two, then the girls turned on the TV and we watched cartoons that I don't think any of us really liked. We did that until lunchtime, which I did join them for. They said Kennedy would be leading physical training in the afternoon in the backyard.

I thought I was pretty bad at it, especially with my hurt shoulder. During late spring afternoons in California, the air is hot. I felt so silly out there, kicking and punching at thin air. I had never been much of an outdoorsy person. Still, I did what they wanted. Afterward, I pretended to read while pondering the ethics of this place. Was it right that they housed felons who had escaped the law but wanted to get better? What about taking girls away from their homes and families but protecting them from unspeakable evil? I wished there was a simple answer, but I knew there wasn't.

Did time always pass the fastest when you least wanted it to? I stood outside in a graveyard with my fellow potentials. Buffy was demonstrating technique. Showing us the best way to kill things. We were practicing on Spike. None of the other girls had done any damage whatsoever. I took the stake. It was my turn. He lunged at me. I stepped to the side at the last-minute. He fell to the ground. I knelt on top of him before he could get up, pinning him to the ground. I put the stake near where I was almost certain his heart was. I knew the point of the exercise was not to kill Spike, so I didn't actually stick him with it. I looked up at Buffy.

"Not bad. I mean, you didn't have to actually use the things we taught you in training, but you did win. You might not always have the same luck, though. I would work harder in physical training."

What more could she possible want from me? I had won, something that almost none of the others had been able to do. And yet her compliment had barely been a compliment at all. And now she was going off on some speech about how we can't always count on luck. I zoned out. Spike had started chasing a petite blonde vampire. Haha, she looked just like the little helpless blonde in a horror movie. A brunette, pale woman came up behind him and hit him.

"Ow! What the hell did you do that for?" His exclamation seemed to get Buffy's attention. Her expression hardened and she drew herself to her full height.

"Faith," Buffy addressed the woman, "I thought you were going to stop being evil." Faith looked confused.

"What? Is making sure vamps don't hurt humans evil now?" Just as she finished saying this, the blonde vampire came back and tried to bite her. Faith saw her mistake and slayed the vampire. Buffy raised her eyebrows at her and gave her a condescending look. Faith got a little defensive.

"Well, how was I supposed to know? I guessed wrong. Doesn't matter. Besides, when I was here last you weren't so chummy with this particular vampire. In fact, I think you used to enjoy beating on him yourself."

"Well, if I remember correctly there were a few evil people you got 'chummy' with. Besides, Spike has a soul now."

"Really? Welcome to the club," before Buffy could respond she said, "Look, B, I'm not here to argue. I want to help you defeat your big evil, okay?" Buffy hesitated for a moment but then turned to Spike.

"Get them back to the house. I'll fill Faith in. We'll finish the patrol." Spike nodded and started off for home. We all followed close behind. I turned my head as I walked. I was curious. I wondered what the others might have heard about Faith. I would ask them when we got back.

It was a little past midnight and the day I'd just had exhausted me but I tried to stay up so I could hear what the others were saying about Faith. None of them seemed to know much of anything either, and as their conversation dissolved into wild speculations, I turned over and closed my eyes, hoping I could get at least a couple of hours of sleep before morning.

My head was questioning everything, but my body gladly accepted the opportunity to sleep. I drifted off peacefully and had a dreamless night.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke at around seven. Someone had already taken the bathroom, as they would when you had to share it with 30 other girls. I waited around on the couch and read some more of the book I had looked at before. I took the bathroom when it became free. The routine hadn't seemed to change, except that today I went to breakfast, and Buffy told us a little more about Faith. She was apparently another vampire slayer who had been in prison near L.A. for killing people. Now she was back and an ally again. I assumed she had broken out. Another fugitive among our midst. Wonderful. A part of me recognized that we could use the extra help, though, and it was probably for the best. Another thing she told us was that another potential had come to town, but she had to go to the hospital because Caleb attacked her.

We were still expected to train. I felt like I was getting a little better each day. This stuff wasn't as useless as it had seemed. I wanted to be able to fight them. How else could I expect to learn? I didn't want Caleb or a ubervamp to get me.

Faith was alright. She wasn't nearly as condescending as Buffy and wasn't a hard-hearted general. Overall, I liked her better than Buffy. She let us go to the Bronze, a nightclub, to let off some steam. It was surprising crowded, especially for a town that everyone should have deserted. I had more fun than I'd had in a long time. I had a great time until the police showed up for Faith. My hunch had been right; they hadn't let her go willingly. Faith beat them up in an alleyway, with the help of some potentials. I was hesitant to attack a law official, but I did join in. Her staying felt more important than justice right then. It made me feel like being here had wrecked my morality, but I sort of enjoyed myself. I was finally putting some of that training to a use.

Buffy came in towards the end. She yelled at Faith and us. I didn't understand what she wanted us to do. Were we supposed to let them get Faith after all the work they had gone to to get her here? She was also yelling at Faith for taking us here in the first place. She made us go back to the house.

Once we were back, we all crowded around in the living room. They had taken all the seats by the time I got in there, so I stood by the fireplace. Buffy said we should go back to the vineyard because there was something they were hiding there. The rest of us disagreed. I hadn't been here long, but I had been around when the vineyard had happened. I hadn't paid too much attention to it, but I had heard about it from the others. A lot of girls had died and Xander had lost an eye, so I understood the opposition. A lot of people had lost hope, too. Morale had been, and still was, very low. In the end, Buffy's little sister, Dawn, kicked Buffy out of her own house. They put Faith in charge. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Much as I liked Faith, she didn't seem like the leadership type. I was also sorry for Buffy. One bad idea and they kicked her out of her house? That seemed a bit harsh to me. I could understand the potentials being like that, but not Buffy's friends. I wondered what Spike and Andrew would think of it when they got back.

We stayed up most of the night discussing what we should do next. Faith was starting to act more like a leader, as in more condescending and unfeeling. I was glad she was doing well, though. Eventually we decided that most of the girls, not including me, would find an arsenal tomorrow. We decided we would try to sleep for the remaining hours of the night. I woke briefly because I heard fighting. Spike and Andrew had gotten back. Spike was mad that they had kicked Buffy out. He yelled at Willow and hit Faith. Then he left. I rolled over and went back to sleep.

The next morning I felt exhausted. I hadn't gotten much sleep. Faith told those who were going to help her find her find the arsenal should get ready to go. I wondered what I would do for the hours of free time I was getting instead of going.

Some girls filed out after Faith. I decided that I would pass the time by eating stolen snacks with Andrew. I started a conversation.

"So, what kind of weapons are they looking for, do you think?" I asked Andrew.

"Oh, you know, whatever they can find. They'll take what they can get." I looked away as I grabbed a bag of chips.

"You're Lilia, right?" I nodded, " I think I met you a couple of days ago," he continued, "So, are you still scared of me?" He smirked, and I smiled and blushed.

"You caught that, did you? No, not really. I mean, I think that was an awful thing to do, killing your friend, but there are more important things to deal with now." He nodded.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I feel terrible about it, though, if that makes you feel better. I want to get better. That's why I'm here. Fighting and dying for the good side."

"Why are you planning your own death? There's no real way to know. You might live through it. You've been here longer than me, and they trust you to go on a mission, but not me. The odds are against both of us."

"Yeah, but you're a slayer. You've been training. Honestly, I'll probably die. I'm not good at fighting."

"Someone's going to die. Almost definitely multiple someones. This is war. Everyone dies. I'm just not so certain it'll be you. Either of us. I mean, it could be, but we could always get lucky."

The potentials were back. Our conversation was over, and I felt too sick to eat. They were all covered in red, and their numbers had decreased. A couple of them carried Faith up the stairs. She was unconscious. Some of them looked about ready to collapse. Buffy was back. I ran up to her.

"What happened?" I asked her. Buffy answered me.

"Bomb," she replied simply. Such a small thing could cause such a devastating effect.

"Help them," she said. It wasn't a question. I wasn't entirely sure how to dress wounds, but I had to help. There weren't very many who had stayed behind. I went up to Giles, who had come in looking panicked.

"What can we use for bandages?" I asked him. He hesitated, but then came up with an answer.

"Bedsheets." He handed them to me, and then handed me a bottle of scotch.

"That's for medicinal purposes only," he said, gesturing at the scotch and giving me a stern look.

"Of course," I replied. I hurried over, handing out supplies to everyone who could help. I worked for hours. Blood covered me, which I was almost certain wasn't safe. Couldn't they all get infections? That wasn't the important thing right then, though. They just had to get the wounds dressed. Anya and Andrew had left to go loot the hospital for supplies, and Buffy, Willow, and Giles had gone upstairs to figure out as much as they could about a scythe. Faith would be okay. She had woken up. Eventually, the few people working on healing the wounded had finished. The long day had exhausted me.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Anya and Andrew came back with the supplies and we redressed some wounds, but we left most as they were. I went to bed early and slipped into a feverish sleep. I dreamed of things covered in red.


	5. Chapter 5

I woke up early and stole the bathroom. By the time I had finished, a couple more girls had woken up. Most of them were healing well. Only a couple had died from the wounds. As sad as their deaths made me, I was just relieved that any of them woke up.

It was a pretty quiet morning. We ate and redressed wounds. Later, Buffy told us the plan. Confidence filled her words. That was the first time it occurred to me that we might win. I could have the power. Maybe I could even go back to Margie. Back to my home. Tomorrow would decide that. One way or another, it would all be over. I was ready. I wanted to get back to normal, like it was before. I liked the idea of being able to protect myself and others too. It was hard to get through the rest of the day while anticipating what was coming. I somehow managed to make my way through the rest of the day. I went to bed early because it was boring, but couldn't fall asleep because I felt excited. I ended up playing Dungeons and Dragons with Xander, Giles, and Amanda all night.

The next day, we went down to the high school. They had deserted it, and it looked like the type of school that would have a Hellmouth under it. Faith and Spike took us down to the seal. Buffy joined in a minute. We each cut our hands with a knife that we passed around. The seal opened and we all climbed down. Spike was wearing a weird sparkly necklace.

Then the ubervamps saw us. That wasn't supposed to happen. We weren't supposed to fight them until we got our slayer strength. They wouldn't take that long to get up here. We would have to fight without it.

My mind kept flashing to the alternative to going home. I had ignored it before, but now it was painfully clear that I could die. Even if I got my superpowers, it might not matter. The possibility seemed so close. I clutched my stake and hoped I would be lucky.

I fought for my life. I staked as many of them as I possibly could. A lot of moves I'd learned in training came in handy. They still slammed me back into a corner. They tried to slam a sword into my head, but I ducked. Instead, it hit me in my right arm. I pulled it out and nearly screamed from the pain. I struggled to stand as I bled heavily.

That was when I felt the strength coursing through me. The power. It gave me the confidence I needed. I knew I was stronger than them. I gripped the sword in my left hand and struck it through their necks. I joined the fight with renewed vigor.

I had to make it out of this. I had gotten too far to back down. Pride was my main reaction when they rushed me on that bus. It was over. Vi and I bandaged my arm. I had lost a lot of blood, but I would be okay. The bus took us out-of-town. I got out and took a look. There was a giant hole where the town had been. I hadn't known about that part of the plan. I didn't really care, though. It was all over. I could go where I wanted. Do what I wanted.

The sky was blue and the sun shined down on me. My time here had made me worn and torn, but in the end it had made me stronger. And now I could be done with all this. I had a whole world ahead of me. The thought brought a small smile to my lips. I climbed back into the bus. I was ready to get to where I was going. Home.


End file.
